Higher Education State Appropriations on the RiseJanuary 11th, 2008 by Paulina

This year has not been a good one for college financial aid officials. The problems began when New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo spearheaded a seemingly endless number of investigations into whether student lenders and financial aid officials had been teaming up at the expense of students. Then there were the stories about study abroad advisors receiving trips by convincing students to travel, and then there were those of athletic departments allowing lenders to use their logos for profit. If the words “financial” and “college” were in the same sentence, the things in between weren’t good.

But a new year has arrived, and with it, hope for a better financial future in higher education– which is exactly what’s expected. Based on new reports from Illinois State University’s Grapevine Project, state tax appropriations for higher education are expected to rise and give hope to students worried about high costs and low scruples. North Dakota is expected to experience the greatest percentage change from last year, increasing their yearly state tax appropriations for higher education by 19.1 percent. Next on the list are Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Arizona, each of which has raised their higher education appropriations by 14 to 15 percent. California, while not promising a particularly large percentage increase, is the one expected to appropriate most, over $11 million. With the exception of Rhode Island (which plans to lower appropriations), every state is creating this year’s budgets with higher education in mind.